At the Park
by Jimli
Summary: Dante takes a day off to spend time with the little guy in his life, complete with boo-boos and reflections. This story is related to "Playtime", though you can read them in any order. Fluffy, very mild language.


Dante was taking the day off.

He'd taken a typical shit job for Lady, although at least she was more generous with the pay.

When Tony had been left with him, he'd patiently explained to her that there was no way in hell he was going to continue taking lousy jobs from her with little to no compensation any longer. Especially not if he was going to have to find a babysitter every time.

They'd made a nice compromise.

Lady would watch Tony, Dante would work the job. When paid, Lady would divide the money straight down the middle, minus damages.

It was amazing how quickly his debt to her dried up.

Tony had been very unhappy about Dante leaving yesterday, however, so today, they were headed to the park.

Dante plopped his leather-clad rear on a wooden bench near the path, watching as his son happily chased squirrels. Unlike the other preschoolers, Tony came very close to catching the fluffy-tailed rodents.

The hunter frowned. He hoped the little boy didn't manage to actually catch one. He wasn't concerned about the attention that would garner; he was more worried the kid would want to bring it home as a pet.

He reached into a pocket and pulled out a bag of dried berries.

Who would have ever thought he'd like dried fruit? He'd never even looked at the stuff before he began perusing snack aisles for his always-hungry spawn.

Was that a human trait or a devil one?

The little white-haired boy ran at him, laughing ecstatically.

Dante leaned forward, opening his arms to catch him.

"Daddy! Can I have some please?"

"Sure, kid," he said, pouring berries into the boy's very small hands.

"I'm not a kid!" he pouted.

Dante ruffled his hair, smiling. "Whatever, kid."

Tony moved from his grasp to climb onto the bench.

More than one good-looking woman walked past their bench, smiling at the pair sitting close, sharing a snack.

Dante reflected that he probably could have easily hit on any of them with high success, but he found little motive to do so.

He didn't regret his son in his life, but he knew better than to keep an active sex life with Tony now in the picture.

The funny thing was, he found himself wondering more about how a woman would handle Tony than how she could handle him.

"Come on, Daddy," the boy said, pulling at him. "Play with me."

Dante hesitated, frowning slightly, but Tony continued.

"No monster, just play. Hide-and-seek? Tag?"

"Tag. We can play monster hide-and-seek later, after dark," Dante conceded.

It still amazed him how comfortable the boy was with his Devil Trigger, but on top of that, Dante had come to the grim realization that as much as he wanted to protect his son, Tony was going to have a hard life. Not only were there plenty of demons out there still out for Sparda's blood, but he himself had become a much-hated figure in the demon world.

It hadn't taken very many nature programs for Dante to make the connection between playing games and training for real life.

Hide-and-seek, tag, dozens of other seemingly ordinary and innocuous games took on a greater significance to Tony, especially if Dante were in Devil Trigger.

"Daddy!" Tony's voice snapped him back to the moment.

He smiled. "Tag?"

"You're it!" the small boy squealed, slapping Dante's knee before taking off across the grass.

Dante had to admit, the boy was quick and agile. He even had to put some effort into catching him.

In between bouts, when he came close to some of those pretty young mothers, he caught the occasional mention of how cute they were playing, or a sigh induced by an overload on the 'aww' factor.

He mostly ignored them.

In the back of his mind where the part that still marveled over the idea of being a father lived, he was equally astonished at how little he cared about following up on those openings.

Tony's small cry of pain jerked him from his thoughts.

He was by the little boy's side in a flash, delicately probing the preschooler for injury. His son's knee was bleeding from a scrape that was long but shallow.

Tony's devil hadn't awakened of course, and he was still very young, still growing. While Dante had no reason to believe he wouldn't have the same capabilities and special powers he'd had as a child, he also wasn't surprised at how underdeveloped they were.

Tears welled up in the boy's blue-green eyes.

"Are you all right? Anything else hurt?"

"I'm okay," came the watery reply.

He brushed at his tears, obviously trying to look tough in front of his father.

Dante rubbed his thumb over the scrape and found a scab already knitted over the wound. A good sign. He smiled and leaned over to kiss the boy's knee.

"Better?"

Tony nodded.

"Ready to play again?"

"Ice cream?" Tony bargained.

"Pizza, then ice cream," Dante answered. "Then come back and play monster hide-and-seek."

Delight filled his son's features, and both males stood, reaching automatically for the other's hand.

As they walked past a bench, a woman sitting on it caught Dante's sleeve.

"You know, I think it's so nice to see a man playing with his son. I wish my children's father was half the man you are."

"I'm sure he's twice the man I am, lady," Dante replied.

He left her blinking after him, but he wasn't too concerned.

Pizza, ice cream, and monster hide-and-seek seemed far more pressing.


End file.
